CHARLESTON, W.Va. – From the Statehouse to your house, Monongalia County Delegate Barbara Fleischauer plans to broadcast regular webcasts during the 2009 Legislative Session.

Featured on Delegate Fleischauer’s Web site, www.FriendsofBarbara.com which she developed in 2006, and on YouTube (www.youtube.com/barbarafleischauer), the webcasts highlight bills and issues Fleischauer will be working on doing during the session.

“Since most people cannot be physically present at the Capitol, I hope to make it more convenient for Mon. County residents to remotely participate in the legislative process,” Delegate Fleischauer said. Following the lead of President Obama, the webcasts mark the beginning of a new era of technology and electronic interaction for Fleischauer and her constituents.

Fleischauer’s opening video outlines three areas she will be focusing on in the 2009 Legislative Session: veterans services, healthcare reform, and children/family issues. More information on each of these topics is included in three additional short videos on the Web site.

The two latest segments on Delegate Fleischauer’s Web site include her reaction to Governor Manchin’s State of the State address and a piece on environmental legislation she is sponsoring.

“It is difficult,” said Fleischauer, “to communicate in a meaningful way with each of the nearly 80,000 people I represent. During the busy session, these webcasts provide me with a way to personally share my ideas about current issues being considered by the Legislature,” she added.

The 2009 Regular Legislative Session marks Fleischauer’s thirteenth year of public service representing the citizens of the 44th House of Delegates district. She chairs the House Committee on Constitutional Revision and is a member of four additional committees: Judiciary, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, Health and Human Resources and Committee of Energy, Industry & Labor/ Economic Development & Small Business.

Delegate Fleischauer’s legislative career has focused on children’s issues, women’s rights, health care, including oral health and mental health, the environment, and improving domestic violence laws. Graduating from the WVU College of Law in 1982, Delegate Fleischauer resides in Morgantown with her husband, WVU College of Law Professor Bob Bastress. Their son Rob is a lawyer in Charleston and their daughter Sarah is attending Smith College in Massachusetts.

Delegate Fleischauer can be contacted at the State Capitol by calling (304) 340-3169 or via email at barbaraf@mail.wvnet.edu Staff will also be available to respond to inquiries at her local office, open weekday afternoons, by calling (304) 296-7035.